Entire Inauguration Coverage
The Green Party chooses former George Rep. Cynthia McKinney as its 2008 presidential candidate. McKinney, 53, has chosen artist and activist Rosa Clemente as her running mate. Read More
- Barack Obama's campaign says a satirical New Yorker magazine cover showing the Democratic presidential candidate dressed as a Muslim and his wife as a terrorist is "tasteless and offensive." Read More
Inauguration Chatter
Inauguration Poll
Listen To History Live
Inauguration Radio Listen to the Presidential Inauguration broadcast live on Jan. 20 at 11:30 a.m. ET.
AOL Inauguration Headlines
Not everyone was happy with President Barack Obama's nod to nonbelievers and non-Christians in his inaugural address. And some of the stiffest criticism of Obama?s religious inclusivity is coming from African-American Christians who maintain that no, all faiths were actually not created equal. Read More
In an open letter to his daughters just days ahead of his inauguration, President-elect Barack Obama acknowledged that he has missed a lot in their lives over the past two years, and explains to them why he ran for the nation's highest office. Read More
The Office of the President-Elect today released the new official portrait for Barack Obama, who will take the oath of office on Tuesday. New White House photographer Pete Souza captured the image on a digital camera, a first for an official presidential portrait. Read More
Filed under: Democrats, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Media, Viral Video, Education, Inauguration
Consider the brief journalistic career of Damon Weaver, a fifth-grader at Florida's Kathryn E. Cunningham Canal Point Elementary. Since joining his school's television station (KEC TV), he has covered the presidential election of '08 (eventually landing an interview with Joe Biden), attended the inauguration, and then gone on to snag airtime with the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Colin Powell, Paula Abdul, Norah O'Donnell, David Gregory, Caroline Kennedy, Meghan Kelly, Dwayne Wade, L.L. Cool J, Jordan Sparks and Major Garrett. His high-profile interviews have been so noteworthy that Weaver himself has become something of a "get" for other reporters and news outlets. To date, he has been interviewed on "Fox & Friends," "Larry King Live," NPR, CNN's "American Morning" and MSNBC, as well as a host of local stations. But yesterday, Weaver landed the holy grail of interviews: The president of the United States. For just over 10 minutes, the young reporter peppered the commander-in-chief with questions about how we can improve our public schools. Watch:
So, how did Weaver do, and what was your favorite part of the interview? And was the president smarter than this 5th-grader?
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Read MoreFiled under: George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Debates, Primaries, Veepstakes, Voting, Predictions, Obama Administration, Inauguration, 2012 President
It is noon, Jan. 20, 2013. Sarah Palin raises her right hand to be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States.Palin had won a decisive victory over the incumbent, Barack Obama. The country was still trapped in economic rubble, and voters had tired of Obama's campaign slogan, "I Inherited This."
The experts debated whether this was a recession with 10 percent unemployment or a depression with 100 percent malaise.
By far the largest voting bloc in the United States turned against Obama -- those who had no health insurance, which was everyone but government workers. The rich paid for their medical care at hospitals within their barricaded communities.
Reform efforts had collapsed when Republicans successfully used the "socialism" label to tarnish any proposed changes.
On the other side, Democrats couldn't agree on anything. Every attempt to reach political compromise had been poisoned by the ideological-purity demands from those on the left.
After years as co-host of "The Jerry Springer Show," Sarah Palin had returned to the fray and run an unstoppable campaign. She had assembled a brilliant staff. The only requirement was that no one could have ever worked for John McCain.
In the primaries she swept aside Mitt Romney and Bobby Jindal. It was really no contest: Both opponents literally put nationwide audiences to sleep even before debate anchors-commentators got to the YouTube questions.
Palin convinced Newt Gingrich to join her on the ticket as vice president by promising he'd really be in charge of the administration -- similar to the arrangement between Dick Cheney and George W. Bush.
Gingrich had filled a key role in the campaign, holding together the all-important bigot base by repeatedly calling Obama a racist.
He would be joined in the White House hierarchy by the new president's husband, Todd, who would continue his traditional role of chief of staff, a job he'd gotten by sleeping with the boss (Sarah, not Newt).
As president-elect, Palin had already named her attorney general, lawyer and Fox News host Greta Van Susteren, a reward for years of unwavering support. Van Susteren immediately announced a task force to find missing blondes. It would be chaired by Nancy Grace.
Van Susteren's husband, John Coale, would continue to operate the Palin Legal Defense Fund which, by now, was valued in the billions as new ethics charges piled up, along with billable hours.
Press Secretary Sean Hannity announced that following the inauguration, the new president would go fishing for salmon. In the Potomac. Then she would call the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, her old neighbor.
But first, the swearing in. This time Chief Justice Roberts was flawless, putting all the words in their proper order as he administered the oath.
In tent cities around the nation, Americans gathered to watch on giant TV screens brought in because their sets had been repossessed. The United States celebrated its first female president.
In her inaugural address, President Palin insisted that the chief executive should represent not just the women of the nation but "all those guys out there who think I'm hot."
With that, she resigned.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Read MoreFiled under: Democrats, Barack Obama, Gay Rights, Obama Administration, Inauguration
Pastor Rick Warren, controversial inaugural invoker, was set to appear this morning on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." According to Politico, he bailed at the last second:Pastor Rick Warren, after making apparently contradictory statements about his stance on a gay-marriage measure, canceled an Easter Sunday appearance on ABC's "This Week" just "moments before the scheduled interview," host George Stephanopoulos told viewers.Maybe he's sick with guilt over his lie, or exhausted from holding gay people back, because Warren certainly did endorse Proposition 8.
Stephanopoulos said Warren's representatives said the best-selling evangelical author was "sick with exhaustion." The host told viewers that he wished the pastor a speedy recovery.
Warren's appearance would have given him the chance to clear up his claim last week on CNN's "Larry King Live" that he "never once ... gave an endorsement" to California's Proposition 8, a successful November ballot measure that banned gay marriage in the nation's largest state.
Still, if Warren is on board now,would it be the worst thing in the world to let Warren off the hook here?
Rick Warren was a big booster for Prop 8 when it still mattered, when people were still voting on it. Now that the tide has turned, and gay lightning is striking everywhere, it's not too late for Warren to decide to do the right thing. But he doesn't get to pretend he was all along.
Tommy on: Daily Dose:
- President Obama Shows Best Defense Against Pirates: Dead Pirates
- Stupid Effing AP Part Q...Who Can Keep Track?
- Palin Compromises on Abortion, Stimulus, but Never Levi
Tommy on: Twitter
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Read More